Except that's not from the frame of reference of the photon. At the speed of light, the Lorentz transform shows that 1) Time stops completely, 2) All distances in the direction of travel collapse to zero. So in a very real sense, "from the photons perspective" it never exists and the point it is emitted from and the point it is absorbed at, are the same point.

Experiencing time and having mass are linked in a very deep way. Objects that experience time, i.e. have some kind of state evolution, must have mass, this is how we know the neutrino has mass even though it's smaller than we can measure, because we measure them oscillating between the various flavours of nutrinos.

This is also how the Higgs mechanism gives rise to "rest mass" in most particles, by constantly exchanging weak hypercharge with them. This oscillation back and forth gives them mass.

Photon is a wave. It oscillates. It's proven. Math model doesn't account for this to make calculation simpler for human beings.