thanks @ nitro for pointing out that .ShowDialog is a function that executes the form. N00b mistake. I can't ask for the result by showing the form again like this, so here's what the new code looks like. function for loading an image:

    With OpenFileDialog1
        .Filter = "JPEG (*.jpg)|*.jpg|PNG (*.png)|*.png|Bitmap (*.BMP)|*.BMP|All Files (*.*)|*.*"
        DialogResult = .ShowDialog()

        If DialogResult = Windows.Forms.DialogResult.OK Then 

            If .FileName.Length <> 0 Then
                Try
                    PictureBox1.ImageLocation = .FileName
                Catch ex As Exception

                End Try
            End If
        End If
    End With