no permission to view .jpg

Hello,

I am trying to open .jpgs in a folder on my external hard drive (wd my passport) on my macbook pro (mid 2012 non retina).

this is the error message i get

The file “DSC_2288.JPG” couldn’t be opened because you don’t have permission to view it.

when i check the permissions it says i can read and write on all of the .jpgs and on the folder in its entirety.

i ran disk utility's first aid on the disk but did not make a difference

any clues on what is going on?