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Before he was the architect of the “infinite possibilities” aesthetic on Instagram, Quin Schrock was an internal auditor. He was staring down a career at a Big Four accounting firm – the kind of soul-crushing corporate trajectory that feels like a life sentence when you’re wired for the wild. Then, life took a sharp left turn: his focus shattered, and he bought a one-way ticket to Peru.
“It was a celebration of breaking out of the norm,” Quin says. He went from a run-of-the-mill accountant to a man wanting to live off the Andean soil. It wasn’t just a trip; it was an exorcism of the life he was “supposed” to live.
From Alarm Systems to the Open Road
The transition wasn’t instantaneous. It was funded by a summer spent installing alarm systems – grinding out $20k to buy back his freedom. In 2013, Quin hit the road with a friend named Kate and a six-month itinerary that stretched from the Canadian Rockies to the Panamanian coast.
Kate had the DSLR; Quin had the vision. As she taught him the technicalities of aperture and shutter speed, a new platform called Instagram was beginning to simmer. Leveraging his fluency in Spanish, Quin pushed into the “no man’s land” of Central Mexico – places like San Luis Potosí – capturing landscapes that the Western internet hadn’t touched yet.
(Quin Schrock)
The result? A “snowball effect” that turned a road trip into a twelve-year career under the moniker Ever Changing Horizon.
The Anatomy of an Escape
For Quin, photography isn’t just about the “banger” shot; it’s a math problem and a meditation.
(Quin Schrock)
- Yosemite: His most-visited cathedral. He treats it with a “nerdy” precision, calculating the exact month and angle the sun hits the canyon floor to solve for the perfect light.
(Quin Schrock)
- Peru: The only place he claims rivals the U.S. for sheer topographical diversity. From the sci-fi dunes of Huacachina to the humid depths of the Amazon, it remains his spiritual home.
default (Quin Schrock)
- Greenland: The pinnacle of “fleeting subject matter.” To Quin, sailing through icebergs that will melt and never be seen again is the ultimate reminder to stay present.
“Being in ‘no man’s land’ allows for a flow state. No distractions. That’s where the most conceptual work happens.”
(Quin Schrock)
The Art of the Conceptual Self
Quin’s work often features a lone human element against an impossibly vast backdrop, creating what he calls an “infinite possibilities vibe.” Take his “Under-Over” self-portrait at Lower Lewis Falls: a complex technical feat using underwater housing and burst modes to capture the tension between the world below the surface and the “big beautiful world” just above.
It’s a visual metaphor for his own life: the sinking feeling of the past, and the breath of air that comes when you finally break the surface.
Currently based in San Diego (though frequently spotted in Hawaii), Quin is still chasing that horizon. For him, the camera isn’t just a tool – it’s the compass that led him out of the cubicle and into the world.
More Escapes. Travel. Adventure.
