TLW,
If photos are embedded using the UPLOAD A FILE button, which is the quick and dirty way to do it, the files are stored in a different location than in PHOTOS. There are apparently no participation restrictions, which is good for new members. But if you later need to use the same photo in another thread, you have to upload it again. Plus you can't search for photos stored that way. The thread originator uploaded all of his photos first to an Album in PHOTOS and inserted a link in the thread. This potentially saves space and gets around the other two limitations but members have to either have 30 posts and be added to the ACTIVE MEMBER group, or be a member of the SUPPORT group (meaning that they made a donation within the past six months)..
Anyway, if the error message says something about your not having access, that's why you can't see them now. You can, of course, make a small donation which should cause them to appear.