iPhoto library update issues.

Hi all,

I recently bought a new iMac and used the time machine backups from my MBP to migrate my programs, files, etc. to the new machine during the setup process. For some reason, the brand new machine was running really slow and the Apple folks had me do a clean install. The only problem that has arisen is that my iPhoto library was updated to a newer version during the transfer over to Mountain Lion on the iMac (I run Snow Leopard on my MBP) and now I can't access my photos. The photos were deleted from the iMac during the reinstall and when I try to opne iPhoto on my MBP it says I need to update to a newer version of iPhoto. In order to do so, however, I would need to upgrade the laptop to Mountain Lion. Is there a way to recover the photo library without having to spend more money?

Thanks much.