The late 1940s were an incredibly challenging time for the Navajo Nation. The combination of a devastating winter blizzard in 1947–1948, strict federal livestock reduction policies that decimated the local sheep-herding economy, and a lack of basic infrastructure left many families facing starvation and disease.

McCombe’s assignment was intended to put a human face on these systemic hardships. Rather than relying on sensationalism, his photographs captured a profound sense of dignity, community, and cultural endurance amidst poverty. Many of his most powerful frames were shot inside the low-light environments of log-and-earth hogans. He frequently used the soft, directional light coming from a central smoke hole or doorway to illuminate his subjects, highlighting textures of woven blankets, silver jewelry, and weather-worn hands. His photographs heavily featured the relationships between generations—elders holding traditional knowledge, mothers managing households under immense pressure, and young children navigating a changing world.

When LIFE published the essay on July 1, 1948, the public response was immediate. The intimate imagery shocked readers across the United States, prompting an influx of private donations, food drives, and increased political pressure that eventually contributed to the passage of the Navajo-Hopi Rehabilitation Act of 1950.

McCombe’s work remains a significant historical record of the era, illustrating both a difficult chapter in twentieth-century Native American history and the enduring strength of the Diné people.

Historically, the kokoshnik was strictly reserved for married women. Unmarried girls wore a similar but open-backed crown called a povyazka. In Orthodox Christian tradition, a married woman showing her hair in public was considered improper. The kokoshnik featured a back cloth that completely covered the hair. The specific shape, embroidery, and beads served as a visual biography, indicating the woman’s hometown region, wealth, and social status.

The album’s artwork was photographed by Austrian photographer Markus Morianz; it shows Minogue wearing a white, bare-midriff blouse and raising her hands behind her head. Christian Guiltenane of Classic Pop said the seductive pose offers “a freer—and, it was implied— more sexually liberated” nature than her earlier image.

Writing for Idolator, Robbie Daw commented that the cover “[takes] a drastic turn for the sexy.” English artist Nick Egan, who previously art-directed sleeves for Duran Duran and INXS, handled the design for Rhythm of Love with designer Eric Roinestad.

The photograph session for Rhythm of Love took place within Los Angeles in October 1990; Minogue wore a small, cropped leotard with chains and a white, feather costume while standing in a desert. Minogue donated the bikini costume with boots worn in the photoshoot, which was designed by Azzedine Alaïa, to the Cultural Gifts Program of the Arts Centre Melbourne in 2004.

A month before the album’s UK release, photographs from the session were featured in a six-page spread for Smash Hits, in which Minogue said of her “dramatic” new image, “I’ve grown up. I’m more womanly!… I think the outrageous me has been kinda subdued for a long time and now it’s coming out!”

Rhythm of Love was not as commercially successful as Minogue’s previous albums, becoming her first studio album not to reach number one in the UK, reaching number nine on the UK Albums Chart. In Australia, it was Minogue’s third top 10 studio album, peaking at number 10, while also attaining top 20 positions in Ireland, France, and Spain.