A photograph or a rhetoric artifact?

In chapter 3 the topic is arguments, how to conduct them and use them in writing. The section on invention in argument had caught my attention when they had used photography as a metaphor. Photography is one of my hobbies so reading this made me look at the art from a different perspective.
“We might think a photograph provides a window on another person’s reality. But in fact photographs, like written text, are artifacts of rhetorical invention” (Alfano 66), at first this statement confused me. When I think of a photograph I feel as if I’m looking into another person’s reality I try to see what they see and think what they think. It is true that a photo is the photographer’s reality; it is their opinion and vision. I do believe it is a version of reality but I don’t think it is considered rhetoric. The photographer isn’t trying to argue a point or make you see things their way.
In figure 3.2 there is a photograph showing homeless Africa Americans from the Louisville Flood in 1937. The photograph ironically shows the homeless blacks in front of a sign saying “World’s highest standard of living, there’s no way like the American way”. Even though the sign and situation is ironic it is still a document in history not an argument. You can very well argue the message behind the picture but it’s not like this was a photo shoot with a backdrop. This photograph inspires it does not persuade.