Too Many Photos?

[Vanillas]

Pervs and Pervesses!

I'm in need of some basic information relative to the effect, if any, of a large amount of downloaded photos on the speed and functioning of a MacBook Pro. In short, I have been taking advantage of one of the spoils of a frequent poster and nightly download scores of pics from the Freebies section of the Archives. I presently have 670 of these, acquired over a period of less than a month . I have also noticed my computer getting slower and slower during this time and, this evening, I could not send a lengthy email. I'm beginning to suspect a cause and effect relationship. For MacBook Pro users, there is a 1:1 correspondence between event and photo and all 670 are easily accessible from the Photos icon on the task bar. Can anyone tell me if I have too many photos, IE. if this is causing my computer to run (much) slower? And, if so, maybe someone also knows the maximum number the Photo section can hold without sacrificing speed. I would greatly appreciate any input on this. Thank You.