Importing Photos from camera “card”

The icon for Photo Gallery disappeared from my opening screen.  I reinstalled Windows Essentials.  Nothing!  This happens repeatedly.  If, by some miracle, the Photo Gallery icon appears, things work well....until the day that the icon disappears.   I would like to download some photos....plain, pure and simple.  Anyone have any idea why the icon just disappears, and how I can retrieve it?  Nothing I have tried today works.

Thanks