Imgur blocks access to most VPN IP addresses so any posts using the host will result in many users being unable to see the content. Sometimes only remote viewing is affected but is also often blocked when trying to open in new tab and view at the parent site.
Consider uploading to the fediverse or using a privacy-respecting hosting service like postimages.
They made it into a quasi-Reddit like fifteen years ago. Back then, Reddit was mostly text posts, while Imgur only ever had image posts and later videos (including screenshots of text, of course). These days that’s not as much of a distinction — however on Imgur, short quippy comments always prevailed, and lots and lots of gif comments. After a while, this sucked even ten years ago when I used Imgur for a while, and I don’t imagine the situation improved lately.
Anyway, when uploading an image to link it elsewhere, you can just not publish it for others on the site to see it and comment.
P.S. Gotta say, though, the most fun I’ve ever had on social media is when people browsing by ‘new’ on Imgur decided that for one day they would upvote anything and everything that comes by. As a result, exceptionally weird stuff actually made its way to the main feed. I haven’t seen such abundance of weirdness and quirkiness even on the early 2010s Tumblr when it was still fresh and hip.