Photographs in "Speak, Memory"

This may be a completely random observation, and I may have overanalyzed the captions that appear beneath the photographs in Nabokov's autobiography. I just find the photographs in the book so fascinating. He has used some particularly poignant photographs throughout the course of his examination of memory. Under some of these photographs Nabokov writes his captions using the first-person pronoun "I." Under other photographs, the title "the author" is utilized. I began to wonder whether these photographs were added in by an editor. I honestly don't believe that is true. I think that Nabokov refers to himself as "the author," even though it is signifying usage of a third-person pronoun.

On page 228, there is a photograph of Nabokov in a rowboat, in which the caption reads, "The author in Cambridge, Spring 1920. It was not unnatural for a Russian, when gradually discovering the pleasures of the Cam, to prefer, at first, a rowboat to the more proper canoe or punt."

I don't think an editor would add a caption like this. This caption is still clearly coming from Nabokov's voice. I think that "the author" uses this specific title to signify that he IS an author and that is how people know him. I also think that there is a possibility that Nabokov has used this third-person title to signify that someone else (aka Nabokov's memory) is discussing his situation in each photograph. Nabokov is giving his memory authenticity and allowing it to speak about his bodily self from an outsider's perspective. He also does not use the term "the author" in his captions until Chapter 10, which is more than half way through the book's entire contents. He is just about heading to college during this time, which is when he realizes that he wants to be a Russian writer. His nostalgia forces him to think about his past and reflect in a way that has created this brilliant autobiography.

Any thoughts on Nabokov's other captions?

-Megan