WHile I understand you, you miss the “Through the lens” , Is his personal view, not the real life. That is exactly what photography should be , art.
What makes photography interesting is that a photo tells you everything and nothing about a subject.
Nothing shown in any photograph is real because you're looking at an impression of reality at a single moment in time.
Yeah you could find people riding on horse-drawn carts in Poland in 80s. 1 for every 100 cars or more. Now count cars and horses on these photos :)