Denis Belliveau is an American photographer, author and explorer notable for retracing Marco Polo's route from

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

and back, a feat which culminated in the publication of the documentary and book titled ''

In the Footsteps of Marco Polo ''In the Footsteps of Marco Polo'' is a 2008 PBS documentary film detailing Denis Belliveau and Francis O'Donnell's 1993 retracing of Marco Polo's journey from Venice to Anatolia, Persia, India and China. The movie documents the first quest "t ...

''; the documentary has been used by Belliveau to create a unique interdisciplinary educational curriculum that he presents at schools and libraries across the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and internationally. As a "technical scuba diver with over 600 dives on the Mesoamerican Reef," Belliveau's photography was instrumental in establishing the definitive map for the

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. C ...

of the Mexican island of

Cozumel Cozumel (; yua, Kùutsmil) is an island and municipality in the Caribbean Sea off the eastern coast of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, opposite Playa del Carmen. It is separated from the mainland by the Cozumel Channel and is close to the Yucat� ...

. Belliveau also participated in an historic archaeological dig in southwest France, unearthing a centuries-old

Christian monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

, located at the current site of Abbatiale Saint-Maixent de Saint-Maixent-l'École. In addition, Belliveau's photography and writing have been highlighted in numerous periodicals, magazines and books, including ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', ''Petersen's Photographic Magazine'', ''

Smithsonian Magazine ''Smithsonian'' is the official journal published by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. The first issue was published in 1970. History The history of ''Smithsonian'' began when Edward K. Thompson, the retired editor of ''Life'' mag ...

'' and '' BBC’s Planet Earth''.

Early life

Denis Belliveau was born in

Whitestone, Queens Whitestone is a residential neighborhood in the northernmost part of the New York City borough of Queens. The neighborhood proper is located between the East River to the north; College Point and Whitestone Expressway to the west; Flushing and ...

; as a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

Christian, he was "inspired to follow his passion for art and travel by his uncle, Father Paul Belliveau, a

Maryknoll Maryknoll is a name shared by a number of related Catholic organizations, including the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers (also known as the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America or the Maryknoll Society), the Maryknoll Sisters, and the Mary ...

missionary", who was stationed in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. He studied at the

High School of Art and Design The High School of Art and Design is a career and technical education high school in Manhattan, New York City, New York State, United States. Founded in 1936 as the School of Industrial Art, the school moved to 1075 Second Avenue in 1960 and mor ...

as well as the

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by ...

, both of which are in

Manhattan, New York Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. At the School of Visual Arts, Denis Belliveau "earned an Associates Degree in painting, sculpture and fine arts." In 1987, Belliveau joined his parents' photography studio that specialized in weddings and during the off-season, he would travel; it was during this time that he joined professional photography organizations, including

Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...

Career

After Denis Belliveau left the wedding photography studio in 1991, he became captivated by the idea of "following Marco Polo’s route from Venice to China and back." As such, Denis Belliveau and a friend named Francis O'Donnell, who met on an archaeological dig in

Saint-Maixent-l'École Saint-Maixent-l'École () is a commune in the Deux-Sèvres department in western France. Geography Saint-Maixent-l'École is located in the Haut Val de Sèvre area of western France, about from Niort and from La Rochelle. The town sits in a fe ...

, southwest France, and hailed from the same academic institution, decided to trace Marco Polo's journey as recorded in Polo's ''

Book of the Marvels of the World ''Book of the Marvels of the World'' (Italian: , lit. 'The Million', deriving from Polo's nickname "Emilione"), in English commonly called ''The Travels of Marco Polo'', is a 13th-century travelogue written down by Rustichello da Pisa from st ...

''. Denis Belliveau, along with his companion, was the first individual "to visit and document every region Marco Polo claimed to have traveled using only" land and sea methods of transportation. Belliveau's story and photography on this mission was compiled into a News and Documentary Emmy nominated film, as well as a book by the same name (published by Rowman & Littlefield), titled ''

''; it "has been used as the basis for a unique curriculum" throughout schools in the United States and around the world. The same

academic press Academic Press (AP) is an academic book publisher founded in 1941. It was acquired by Harcourt, Brace & World in 1969. Reed Elsevier bought Harcourt in 2000, and Academic Press is now an imprint of Elsevier. Academic Press publishes referen ...

has used Denis Belliveau's images in other books, such as ''Digging Through The Bible'' by Richard A. Freund. Denis Belliveau was "the Director of Photography and Senior Cameraman for the national public television series ''Real Moms, Real Stories, Real Savvy''", which was acquired by

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

in 2010. He received Eastman Kodak's highest honor, its Gallery Award, for an image of a

Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, a Native South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language **So ...

boy captured in

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

. In total, Denis Belliveau's career has taken him to over sixty countries in the world.

References

External links

The Steps of Polo FoundationExplorer Series - Geographical Society of Philadelphia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Belliveau, Denis American explorers People from Whitestone, Queens Year of birth missing (living people) Living people School of Visual Arts alumni American male writers High School of Art and Design alumni Catholics from New York (state) Educators from New York City