but it would seem, at first look, as though the genius was not quite what the title represented.

By far the easiest way to move from one Mac to another is to use the migration assistant.

The very first time you turn on the new Mac and after the introductory pleasantries, you will be asked if you have any data to move from an old Mac, a Time Machine backup and something else that I forget.
Answering Yes and following the instructions will result in everything being moved, including settings, and the new machine ends with everything in the same place as it was on the old machine.

That said, do you/she have a Time Machine backup of the MacBook?
Does she still have the MacBook?
Where were the photo's stored on the MacBook?
Were they copied into the iPhoto Library when they were imported?
What version of iPhoto was on the MacBook?

Meanwhile, she could try a rebuild of the iPhoto library. Launch iPhoto while holding down the Command + Option keys and follow the instructions.
NOTE: it is strongly advised that you make a backup of the iPhoto Library BEFORE you do this.

Once we have the other answers, we can move on

P