Have the photos been synced from an iPhone?
If you are using an iPhone or iPad with iOS 10.11 or newer, the photos may have been saved in the space saving High efficiency format HEIF. A Mac with OS X 10.10 cannot process this format. The Mac needs to be upgraded to macOS 10.13 or later to be able to handle the format. See: Using HEIF or HEVC media on Apple devices - Apple Support
Or are you shooting the photos in a RAW format? Photos can only process RAW files from supported cameras. The support is specific for each camera model and also depends on the system version.