cannot transfer photos to my computer from my phone

In Photos 4.0 on macOS 10.14.2 Mojave the iPhone will appear in the "Devices" section of the sidebar, after you have unlock the iPhone, once it has been plugged into a USB port.

And you should upgrade iTunes as well, if you have not done so for quite some time. Downloading by USB requires a current version of iTunes to be installed, so you can confirm on the iPhone to trust this Mac.

See: About the 'Trust This Computer' alert on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

Launch iTunes first, after you plug-in the iPhone, so you can confirm the trust, thne launch Photos.

You've not had any updates to iPhoto for more than three years because Apple ceased development of the app more than three years ago. It was replaced by the newer and more powerful Photos application.

What version of the OS and iPhoto do you have?

What OS is on your Phone?

 so it changed to Photo

So your query is about Photos.app not iPhoto. I'll request this is moved to the correct forum.

Just in case you have not found it, TD. In the new editor the tool for quoted text has been moved to the text tools "Aa". So we first have to click "Aa", then "

The "<>" is meant for code blocks and produces terminal text with highlighted keywords.

And the version of iPhoto?

The "<>" is meant for code blocks and produces terminal text with highlighted keywords.

Ah, so that's where it went. Thanks Léonie.