where do I find iCloud photos to ensure they were backed up?
why can't I find my photos when I open up iCloud?
iMac, OS X 10.11
Question marked as
If you have iCloud Photos turned on, the photos on the device are the same as on iCloud, with the possible exception that some of them may be space-saving optimized versions if you have that option turned on. You view them in the Photos app on an iOS device. You can also use a computer and login to icloud.com and go to the Photos app there. See: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204264
If you didn't have iCloud Photos turned on but do have an iCloud backup, you can restore the entire phone (not just the photos) from iCloud but you cannot otherwise view the contents of the backup. https://support.apple.com/kb/ph12521