"A deck that would feel like carrying a Shin Noguchi photo book with you anytime, anywhere."

That was the idea Fulton's Playing Cards, an American playing card company, brought to Shin Noguchi. The deck that came out of it was released on September 16. Every card carries one of his photographs.

Fulton's makes designer playing cards. It has released decks with Mickey Mouse, NASA, the film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Monster Cereals. This time it filled an entire deck with the work of one photographer.

Shin Noguchi is a familiar name to 5ft.mag readers. Born in Tokyo, he is a street photographer who has spent nearly 20 years photographing the streets of Kamakura and Tokyo. He shoots chance moments in color, and he presses the shutter while meeting his subject's eyes. We ran an interview with him in Vol.02.

Lead photograph from the Shin Noguchi interview Related Shin Noguchi Interview: Finding the Extraordinary in Everyday Streets Shin Noguchi, who has photographed the streets of Kamakura and Tokyo for nearly 20 years, on how he looks. The opening of our Vol.02 interview.

Almost no cropping

The first thing Noguchi points to is the crop. Each photograph went onto its card almost uncut. That is why he calls the deck "a small photo book that you can carry around in your pocket."

Four aces standing on a black surface. The ace of spades shows a child shouting on a beach, and the ace of hearts shows a glass of juice by an airplane window
The four aces. A Leica and a canister of Portra 400 sit behind them.

The product shots show how it works. Horizontal photographs are printed so you turn the card sideways to see them, and vertical ones stay upright. The ranks and suits sit small inside the white border, clear of the image. A playing card is a tall format. Instead of cutting the photographs to fit it, the deck turns the card to fit the photograph.

The jack of spades shows a man cheek to cheek with a Shiba dog, and the queen of spades below it shows a child in an oni mask laying out cards
The man with the Shiba dog is the jack of spades. The child in the oni mask below is the queen of spades.

There is no set way to play. You can simply flip through the photographs, or use the cards as an ordinary deck. Noguchi suggests you might even come up with your own games, such as matching the subjects or scenes that appear in the photographs.

A joker card showing a face in white makeup with a painted red mouth. The card below has KODAK PORTRA 400 and frame numbers printed along its border
The joker. The card below carries the edge numbers KODAK PORTRA 400, 26 and 27 on its border.

Anyone who shoots film will stop at this one. The border of the lower card reproduces the edge numbers: the film name and frame numbers printed along the rebate outside the perforations, which appear once the film is developed. The Leica and the Portra 400 canister placed beside the deck in every product shot tell the same story.

The photographs in the deck

The deck includes several of his best-known pictures.

A bald older man walks past a giraffe figure in a temple courtyard, with Tokyo Tower behind
An older man passes a giraffe figure. Tokyo Tower rises behind them. ⓒ Shin Noguchi
Children in kabuki makeup sit in a silver van and look out through the open window
Children in kabuki makeup look out at us through a car window. ⓒ Shin Noguchi
A person with a red umbrella stands on a snowy street. The right half is covered by a red pillar dotted with snowflakes
A red umbrella on a snowy street. On the right, a pillar dotted with snow. ⓒ Shin Noguchi
Legs in white high heels pass over yellow tactile paving on a wet pavement
White high heels on yellow tactile paving. ⓒ Shin Noguchi
Snow-capped Mount Fuji in the distance, with a billboard showing a photo of Mount Fuji standing behind a lookout railing
A billboard Fuji stands in front of the real one. We also ran this photograph with our Vol.02 interview. ⓒ Shin Noguchi

What changes when street photographs become playing cards? A photo book is read front to back. Cards get shuffled and passed from hand to hand. The order changes with every game, and you meet the pictures without the sequence the photographer set.

Three designs, three prices

A card box standing on a black surface, with a photo of snow-capped Mount Fuji at the top and Shin Noguchi in green lettering below
The standard Fuji Box, with his name in green lettering.
A card box whose front shows a child in an oni mask and a yellow top holding cards
The limited Oni Box. A child in an oni mask holds a hand of cards.
Nine photos of the Gilded Oni Box colors. The card edges shine in purple, iridescent silver, pink, patterned gold, green, black, and red
The Gilded Oni Box. Purple, pink, green, red, patterned gold: each edge finish is different.

Prices are in US dollars. Check the Fulton's checkout page for shipping to your country and its cost.

A signed edition, Japan only

Noguchi is also selling standard Fuji Boxes from his own stock with his signature. He signed two places: the outer box and the photographer card inside. The Signed Fuji Box is sold only through his online store for Japan, while stock lasts.

Shrink-wrapped card boxes on a turntable. On the left, a signature in black pen crosses the mountain photo on the Fuji Box
The signed edition on a turntable. The signature runs across the photo of Fuji.

One for home, one for school

Near the end of his announcement, Noguchi writes:

One for your home. One for your school, facility, or office. Or, why not one for every public space?

His photographs have run in magazines and newspapers through commissions. They now also turn up where people meet them in daily life: in advertising, on film festival posters, on record covers. He says that makes him happy, and the deck is the newest place on that list. He closes by saying he hopes to share the beauty he finds in everyday life in Japan with as many people as possible.

Pictures that would have stood on a bookshelf as a photo book are spread across kitchen tables and floors.

A small child and an adult play cards on a wooden table
A game at the kitchen table. Photo: @daichinagaiphotography
Cards laid out in rows on a blanket, and a cat sniffing the card held in a hand
The cat gets the first look. Photo: @henachoco_dragon
A Fuji Box and a spread of cards on tatami
Cards spread out on tatami. Photo: @takaomikim

At a glance

This article draws on the announcement and press materials Noguchi sent us and on his English blog post of September 16. The number of cards and the card stock were not in the materials, so we have left them out.