 Decisive in her career was the first series of photos she made in 1993 of Imperial Courts, a public housing project in Watts, Los Angeles.Lixenberg portrayed residents as distinctive and charismatic personalities, without direct references to their gang.The exhibition "'Imperial Courts, 1993-2015’" at Huis Marseille in Amsterdam (2015) was the first comprehensive presentation of the Imperial Courts series, spanning a period of twenty-two years.