Shooting Starz is a community-based photo portrait project serving high school seniors, young homeless mothers, new Americans, refugees andoften underserved families across the Syracuse area.

The founder and photographer of Shooting Starz, is Wayne O’Connor. He was a teacher and administrator in the Syracuse City School District (SCSD). Upon retiring from the SCSD he served as director of the Syracuse CHOICE Program and executive director of Hillside Work Scholarship Connection. Both of these programs provided extensive supports for middle and high school students in the SCSD. After retiring from the Hillside program in 2019 Wayne used his lifelong passion for photography and working with students to found his non-profit known as Shooting Starz. He provides free photo sessions for deserving high school seniors and other members of the community.

He can reached at (315) 663-8152 or woconnor23@gmail.com