Has street-photography a limit?

Chasing the captain is a series of shots made in Venice (Italy) by Yanick Delafoge, a very good street-photographer whose website I visit almost daily.

Chasing the captain is accompanied by an explanation of the circumstances that led to the shots and based on the assumption that the subject was, indeed, a Navy Officer. Thus, the whole mood of the comment was inspired by the suggestion coming from a soldier that crosses the calles’ of Venice.
There is a small problem, though: the man portrayed in the photo is a chief petty officer – Capo di prima classe (you can guess it by the three-striped patch on is shoulder) and not a “captain” (i.e. a navy officer.) By the two crossed anchor of the patch it can be guessed too that he is a “Nocchiere di porto”, meaning that he’s not entitled to receive the commanding authority of a (small) ship.

As Yanick Delafoge kindly replied to the comment I left on his blog:

Hello Andrea, Thanks for the precision, I am not surprised, I know that the hierachy on boat is not as simple as might seem. This being said, I am sure he looks like a captain to 99% of viewers ;)

And here comes to the point: a title – or a whole commentary – can deflect the attention of the observer letting his mind to give the photo a meaning that is not necessary the “real” one. In other words Chasing the captain is a good example of how much a viewer adds to the meaning of an exposure, way ahead of its “actual” message.

Of course there is no problem in giving a photography a title or wrapping a whole story around it. But can you still call this “street-photography”?