diff --git a/src/frontend/lib/FastAPIServer.py b/src/frontend/lib/FastAPIServer.py
index e28ebcf..bf2ab90 100644
--- a/src/frontend/lib/FastAPIServer.py
+++ b/src/frontend/lib/FastAPIServer.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 import uvicorn
 import os
 import sass
-import base64
+from base64 import b64encode
 from fastapi import FastAPI, Request
 from fastapi.responses import HTMLResponse
 from fastapi.routing import APIRoute
@@ -14,10 +14,21 @@ from ...backend.lib.config import Config
 
 app = FastAPI()
 templates = Jinja2Templates(directory="src/frontend/templates")
-def base64decode(string):
-    return base64.b64decode(string).decode("utf-8")
+
+
+def base64decode(string) -> str:
+    """Decode a base64 string."""
+    breakpoint()
+    try:
+        result = b64encode(string).decode("utf-8")
+    except Exception:
+        result = "static/images/placeholder.png"
+    return result
+
+
 templates.env.filters["b64decode"] = base64decode
 
+
 class FastAPIServer():
     """Entry point for FastAPI server."""
 
@@ -58,7 +69,7 @@ class FastAPIServer():
         """Home page responder."""
         # _books = self.storage.get_books()
         context = {"request": request, "books": books}
-        return templates.TemplateResponse("index.html", context )
+        return templates.TemplateResponse("index.html", context)
 
     @app.get("/users/me")
     async def about_me(self):
diff --git a/src/frontend/templates/index.html b/src/frontend/templates/index.html
index 619768f..dc15dd6 100644
--- a/src/frontend/templates/index.html
+++ b/src/frontend/templates/index.html
@@ -7,22 +7,14 @@
     <div class="card">
       <div class="card-image">
         <figure class="image is-4by3">
-          {% try %}
-          <img src="data:image/png;base64,{{ book[0].cover|b64decode }}" alt="{{ book[0].title }}">
-          {% except %}
-          <img src="https://bulma.io/images/placeholders/1280x960.png" alt="Placeholder image">
-          {% endtry %}
+          <img src="data:;base64,{{ book[0].cover|b64decode }}" alt="{{ book[0].title }}">
         </figure>
       </div>
       <div class="card-content">
         <div class="media">
           <div class="media-left">
             <figure class="image is-48x48">
-              {% try %}
-              <img src="data:image/png;base64,{{ book[0].cover|b64decode }}" alt="Placeholder image">
-              {% except %}
-              <img src="https://bulma.io/images/placeholders/96x96.png" alt="Placeholder image">
-              {% endtry %}
+              <img src="data:;base64,{{ book[0].cover|b64decode }}" alt="Placeholder image">
             </figure>
           </div>
           <div class="media-content">