That's no tree! How U.S cell phone masts are being cunningly disguised

Fascinating new photo book reveals how America’s cell phone masts are being cleverly disguised as fake palm trees, phoney cacti and even bogus church crosses

• The mesmerising images can be found in book Fauxliage, by photographer Annette LeMay Burke 
• She writes that some of the disguises are so obviously fake that they actually draw attention to themselves 
• In the foreword, Ann M. Jastrabgame says that some of the photos are like a game of “Where’s Waldo?”

In the American West, unsightly cell phone masts are being cunningly disguised so they blend in with their environments, as revealed in an intriguing new book by photographer Annette LeMay Burke. 

Fauxliage (Daylight Books) is a collection of fascinating landscape images that show the country’s phone masts camouflaged as quirky fake palm trees, giant cacti and even church crosses.

In the foreword, Ann M. Jastrab, Executive Director, Center for Photographic Art in Carmel, California, says: ‘Initially what I saw were picturesque landscapes. But, wait, what was happening in these views? Something was amiss. There were giant saguaro cacti, palm trees reflected in crystal clear pools, and a towering pine tree in a barren desert. What was a pine tree doing in the middle of the Mojave Desert with not even a tuft of grass to be seen nearby? I looked a little closer. These weren’t real live trees at all… 

‘I couldn’t help but laugh and look again, taking my hat off to the brilliant title as well. It became almost like a game of “Where’s Waldo?” in some images.’ 

Meanwhile, Annette writes in the book: ‘While I was initially drawn to the towers’ whimsical appearances, the more I photographed them, the more disconcerted I felt that technology was clandestinely modifying our environment. Would our children soon accept these towers as normal?’ 

Scroll down to see the unique creations in our pick of the tome’s pictures…

Annette spotted this trio of phone masts disguised as towering palm trees in Palm Springs, California. The photographer argues that fake foliage ‘draws more attention to itself than it provides camouflage’

A giant faux cactus plant partially hides a phone mast in Phoenix, Arizona 

The fake trees have been dubbed ‘frankenpines’. This image was taken in Provo, Utah

This picture from Annette’s new photo book was taken in Barstow, California. Annette says: ‘While I was initially drawn to the towers’ whimsical appearances, the more I photographed them, the more disconcerted I felt that technology was clandestinely modifying our environment. Would our children soon accept these towers as normal?’

Pictured is a well-camouflaged phone mast in Palo Alto, California

A phone mast with a palm tree aesthetic located in a drive-thru in La Mesa, California

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The above image captures a phone tower disguised as a pine tree in Gorman, California 

Annette took the above image in Henderson, Nevada. She writes: ‘While the quirky disguises can be entertaining to look at, the towers present privacy and environmental concerns. The often-farcical pole disguises belie the equipment’s covert ability to collect all the personal data transmitted from our cell phones’

Some of the phone towers in the book are so cleverly hidden they’re hard to spot. The image on the left was taken in San Lorenzo, California, and the image on the right in Calimesa, in the same state

Annette discovered these phone-mast crosses in Mesa, Arizona. Writing in the foreword about this photo, Ann M. Jastrab says: ‘The Holy Trinity at the local church is really three cell phone towers? I’m not religious, but this might be a form of blasphemy. Or genius, as the cell phone companies are paying the church good money to plant those there’

A sculpture of a bison hides a phone tower at the Wyoming/Colorado border

Fauxliage, by Annette LeMay Burke and published by Daylight Books, is out now priced US$45.00/CAN $58.99

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