[gill.amber@icloud.com]

I turned off all photo options in iCloud. Previously, I downloaded over 1000 photos to my computer to free up some memory. It still shows the headings for those but, with blank boxes? What is it trying to download? How do I stop it?

[Just_Me_D]

I don't know. It's possible that the procedure could be trying to correct itself or finish doing whatever it was doing prior to you disabling all photo options. If you still have photos on your device as well as have iCloud backup enabled, it could be backing up those photos.

[Ledsteplin]

You're trying to free up storage space, not memory. Where are the photos? Did they upload? Are they still hanging in the phone? Have you tried a hard reset?
Hold the top power/sleep button and the home button at the same time until the Apple logo appears, then release.