Ciao puoi risolvere velocemente il tuo problema creando un override del file "itemp.php".
A questo punto recati alla line 208 e togli il link modal.
Sostituisci questo codice:
<span class="itemImage">
<a class="modal" rel="{handler: 'image'}" href="<?php echo $this->item->imageXLarge; ?>" title="<?php echo JText::_('K2_CLICK_TO_PREVIEW_IMAGE'); ?>">
<img src="<?php echo $this->item->image; ?>" alt="<?php if(!empty($this->item->image_caption)) echo K2HelperUtilities::cleanHtml($this->item->image_caption); else echo K2HelperUtilities::cleanHtml($this->item->title); ?>" style="width:<?php echo $this->item->imageWidth; ?>px; height:auto;" />
</a>
</span>
con questo:
<span class="itemImage">
<img src="<?php echo $this->item->image; ?>" alt="<?php if(!empty($this->item->image_caption)) echo K2HelperUtilities::cleanHtml($this->item->image_caption); else echo K2HelperUtilities::cleanHtml($this->item->title); ?>" style="width:<?php echo $this->item->imageWidth; ?>px; height:auto;" />
</span>