Exploration is deeply ingrained in the make up of human kind. Our struggle is that of contact. The Arecibo message was broadcast into space with the unlikely aim of reaching out to extra-terrestrial life. The message was broadcast into space via frequency modulated radio waves at a ceremony to mark the remodelling of the Arecibo radio telescope on 16 November 1974. It was aimed at the globular star cluster M13 some 25,000 light years away. The "ones" and "zeros" contained information about the fundamentals of life on Earth. The total broadcast was less than three minutes. Arecibo is visual homage to the original message and a reflection on the birth of humanity, our growth and evolution. Each image in the series is a composite of thousands of Jpegs extracted from Google Maps. The landscapes distorted by patterns of light, both natural and man made, explore important punctuations in human history. www.david-thomas-smith.com