Little is known about Horydczak himself. He is believed to have been born in eastern Europe, and to have taken up photography during or after World War I, possibly while a member of the U.S. Army Signal Corps. His residence in Washington spanned the period from the early 1920s to his retirement in 1959. Horydczak's studio logbook opens with a 1921 entry for a photograph of cherry blossoms along the Tidal Basin.