Though the W3C even gives it as an example Show archive.org snapshot , no browser actually supports this CSS:

img:before {
  content: "something";
}

UI/UX Design by

We make sure that your target audience has the best possible experience with your digital product. You get:

• Design tailored to your audience
• Proven processes customized to your needs
• An expert team of experienced designers

Read more Show archive.org snapshot

Browsers will simply not render anything when doing that on images (Fun fact: It worked in an older version of Opera but got dropped).\
The same applies to the :after pseudo-element.

This makes me sad.

You can try using jQuery instead.