Cultivation and Measurement of Corn Plants, German Research Institute.

Cactus Culture in Borrego Springs, California, USA.

Hamburg-based photographer Henrik Spohler’s The Third Day, published by Hatje Cantz, examines the relationship humans have with plant life. Spohler photographed worldwide sites of plant cultivation, showing fruits, vegetables, ornamental trees, seed laboratories, greenhouses, and followed the artificial irrigation systems that runs from northern California to the border of Mexico. “The third day” is a biblical reference to the day on which all seed-bearing plants were created. The world Spohler depicts, while it produces our food, looks almost completely divorced from nature, lacking in human presence yet utterly dominated by the humans who have utilized genetic engineering and other techniques to standardize plant life as product. His photographs elevate the geometric configurations of modern-day farming into bizarre, futuristic landscapes. They look like science fiction, yet they are real and of this planet and era.

Rows of Clipped Trees, Northern Germany.

Cold Chamber for Archiving Seeds, German Research Institute.

Agricultural Irrigation Channel Near Newman, California, USA.

Water Reservoir for a Greenhouse Site in Andalusia, Spain.

Shiitake Cultivation at a Mushroom Farm, Germany.

Lettuce Cultivation in the Salinas Valley, California, USA.

Chemical Treatment of Cropland in Santa Maria, California, USA.

Production of Genetically Manipulated Rice Species, Belgium.

Preparing the Soil Near Santa Maria, California, USA.

Ripe Sunflowers Near Chico, California, USA.