Finally got it working with photos. The problem was using the base versus extended theme. There was also an extra ! in the python script I think. Checking now.

1. The prereqs are hugo extended (I am using .140) https://github.com/gohugoio/hugo/releases/download/v0.140.1/hugo_extended_0.140.1_linux-amd64.deb
2. golang (apt install golang)
3. download the theme terminal and copy hugo.toml in root of site