If it is a private photo then that is correct no one but admin should be able to view it and this is always been the case even with 5.5
The photo your trying to show me on 5.5 is not a private album photo so that is not a comparison to the beta install
http://www.highperformancestangs.com...bs/launch2.jpg
If you have an issue with the avatars you can try comparing the 5.5 and 5.62 vb3.php files and use the function get_profiledata from the one file to the next.