From the cheap seats to best view in the house

How photographer followed his passion and caught the eye of Fred VanVleet

- LIBAAN OSMAN

Scarborough local and budding photographer Tristan Forbes used to purchase cheap Raptors tickets in the 300 level of the section of the Air Canada Centre (now Scotiabank Arena), sneak in his Canon camera, and look out for empty seats in the lower bowl, where he could go to take close-up pictures of the game.

"At this time, Raptors games weren't selling out," Forbes said. "I'd bring my camera to the game and make friends with the ushers."

Workers at the arena kept an eye out for Forbes, warning him when security was approaching, while he looked to hone his photography skills.

He did this for months and became popular with players, who posted and shared his work on social media, until one night security caught him and banned him from the arena for a year.

It's a story the 30-year-old laughs about when recounting his journey over the past eight years from being banished to having all-access working full-time with the Raptors as a social media producer and now on to Houston, where he works as a creative director for former Raptors guard Fred Van Vleet.

"His eyes for videos are special," Van Vleet wrote in a statement to the Star. "Tris is one of those good people who is also top of his class in talent and potential."

With the Houston Rockets in town on Friday, VanVleet was expected to make his first return to Toronto since departing this summer as a free agent, but due to a strained left adductor, a leg injury, he won't be playing.

Still, it's a homecoming for Forbes, who is back in the city with VanVleet, camera in hand.

"Coming back to a place that you feel like you worked very hard to get to," he said, "it makes you appreciate that place as a stepping stone."

On Thursday night, VanVleet and Forbes posted a video on Instagram showing some highlights of the long-time Raptor and his time in the city with the words, "Toronto, see you tomorrow."