>> I assume you noticed that there is a syntax error in the SQL you submitted..

Again - I tried it MANY MANY ways. With and without the comma...

Code:
SELECT 
   DISTINCT bigimage, COUNT( bigimage ) AS qty 
FROM 
   photos 
GROUP BY 1 HAVING qty > 1
About 20 results returned...

If I run

SELECT * FROM `photos` WHERE 1 I get 16987 results...

If I run

SELECT DISTINCT bigimage FROM photos I get 15819 results...