CHAPTER I ROME - Le Jardin de Californie

Audrey Nguyen – visual artist Michelle No – art history student
Photography & styling by Serena Lisbon Special thanks to Sille Luna and Raffaello's Joint
Michelle and Audrey are two amazingly radiant California girls. Audrey is originally a San Franciscan with Vietnamese origins, while Michelle is an LA resident born and raised in Rome. I first met Michelle through my beloved Federica Piraino in January while they were both interning at the Macro museum. We spent a lovely time here in Rome with Federica eating chinese food and watching american movies, going out together and chatting all night long almost everyday. She is seemingly shy and quiet but actually extremely funny and full of energy. She left Rome a week after these pictures were shot and I would feel tremendously sad if I weren’t certain I’d see her again really soon in LA. I met Audrey at a Dum Dum girls show in Rome and I did’t imagine she would become so close to me, almost like a sister here in Rome. We are so similar, with parallel experiences, having both travelled and lived in different places, and we’re able to understand each other with just a glance. She moved here after having lived 4 years in London, where she graduated in film studies. At the moment she’s on a boat somewhere in the mediterranean sea and I really miss her.

Location On a warm June day we found a little piece of California in the wonderful and “dannunziana” villa Sciarra close to Trastevere and that’s where we shot this story.

Soundtrack