But is the letter facing the direction, or are you looking in the direction if you're looking at the letter? So, is East behind the camera or in front of it?
but that's not intuitive. when a compass says that the bearing is east, you are facing east. here, the onlooker is actually facing west when looking at east.
if the street pole had a bunch of arrows sticking out towards the cardinal points, what you're saying is obvious may truly have been obvious.
but in this arrangement, the question put forth is a fair one and does not deserve derision.
I think the original picture is enough evidence that it could easily be misinterpreted, regardless of any other circumstances. It's not immediately self-evident.