Hey! anybody computer genus out there? im desperite!?

so..I have a macbook and my iphoto isnt working. everytime i click on it will open and not show any of my pics and just have the lil rainbow thing go around and around and around. it will go for hours and never show me my pics!!? i have none of these photos backed up so i am worried. however i can see my photos thru spotlight. this problem started when i was on an airplane and i was edditing photos and my computer turned off my itself. i turned it back on..and ever since it hasnt been working. i have 2gb memory. any ideas? please help, im desperite!