Like many people, Samantha Gardella is a huge fan of Netflix’s critically-acclaimed television show, Orange Is the New Black. The 19-year-old film student lives in Monroe, New York, which happens to be about 30 minutes from the fictional Litchfield Penitentiary, where the show takes place. Once she learned that, Gardella had the idea to go and match screenshots of the show with their exact location on set.
Gardella had no problem getting onto the premises, which in reality, is the abandoned Rockland Children’s Psychiatric Center. She then began pairing fiction with fact, aligning photos of scenes from the prison yard, loading dock, and Red’s greenhouse with their real-life filming locations. The result is a fantastic tribute to a show that’s quickly turned into a cultural phenomenon.
Gardella first posted the photos on her Tumblr, where they were very well-received. Tumblr users weren’t the only ones to notice, though. A representative from the show’s legal team notified her that the set is private property, and that no one is allowed there without permission. While that was enough to spook her from ever going back, the official @OITNB Twitter also sent her a more light-hearted response–a citation signed by (fictional) corrections officer John Bennett.
“Citation” from Officer Bennett