[MPDev]

Actually, if they are in seperate databases, as long as they share a common userid/password for access, you could just use the query:

SELECT pp_photos.id, pp_photos.title, user.userid, pp_photos.cat, pp_photos.approved, pp_photos.bigimage
FROM ppost_photos AS pp_photos
LEFT JOIN " . TABLE_PREFIX ."user AS user ON pp_photos.userid = user.userid

and add in a tablename before the ppost_photos like:

photopostdb.ppost_photos

Then it would pull it from the other database without having to switch or combine dbs.