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Not sure how to help you because your question isn't 100% clear to me, but I had some issues with the photos too. Not all solved yet either. There are actually two different photo galleries (for lack of better words) that each member receives. There's the profile gallery which you can access via the upload photo link in your profile i.e. my account settings. It's the one with the little thumbnail pictures directly underneath it. Those photos are generally private, for invited members and the member whom the photos belong to (unless it's set differently from within the admin panel).
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But then there's also the public photo gallery which shows up in the member account ... plus as a number in the stats section ... plus as a public gallery if you click on that number. Both galleries are accessible from a members account.
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What's even more cofusing is the fact that none of the buttons are clearly marked to define which is which in the builder section, and to make matters worse, the PROFILE PHOTO of your choice (or the first one by default) also shows up as your member photo in the member list of the hompage ... giving a new member the idea that those are actually the public photos. But like I said, as far as I know the profile pictures are strictly for the member whom the pics belong to while the gallery pics are the ones that can be viewed publically if you enable the public gallery for members and non-members.
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One way to tell the difference is by the upload function. When you upload intothe public gallery you'll receive a disclaimer first about copyright stuff. But when you upload photos in your own profile gallery you won't get that message ... because those are private pictures for private use only. Oh, and both galleries, profile and public, can be set up differently from within the admin panel. Hope this helps to clarify at least a little.
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Greetings from Germany