Badger,
I am having the same problem as J.M. Browning was having. I too am running the latest version of Snow Leopard on a MacBook Pro with the latest version of Safari (5.1).
Oddly enough, when I turn off Java Script, the pictures will open up for me. If I turn Java Script off, the disappear as he described.
Clicking off Block Pop Ups or Java does nothing. Weird, yes?
CS