JSFiddle - React, Tailwind, and code Playground

HTML

<div class="outer">
    <span class="helper"></span>
    <img src="http://i.stack.imgur.com/e0Snp.jpg">
</div>

CSS

.outer {
    border:1px solid #ddd; 
    float:left; 
    height:150px; 
    padding:10px; 
    display: table;
}

.outer img {
     vertical-align: middle;
}
.helper {
    display: inline-block;
    height: 100%;
    vertical-align: middle;
}