Photons have no mass, and even if they did, the effect would not be due to velocity, since all photons travel at c. They have energy and momentum, owing to their frequency (or wavelength).  The effects on our observations is real, but spacetime is a coordinate system. Like latitude and longitude on a globe, the coordinate system is not flat, it is curved, because that's the proper coordinate system to use to describe the very real effects. When you look at them on a flat map (with a proje