JSFiddle - React, Tailwind, and code Playground

HTML

<ul>

  <li><span>Lorem ipsum</span></li>
  <li><span>Lorem ipsum</span></li>
  <li><span>Lorem ipsum</span></li>

</ul>

CSS

@import url('https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Neucha&display=swap');


* {
  box-sizing: inherit;
}

html {
  box-sizing: border-box;
}

body {
  margin: 0;
  font-family: 'Neucha', cursive;
}
ul {
  display: grid;
  grid-template-columns: repeat(3, minmax(100px, 1fr));
  gap: 20px;
  max-width: 800px;
  margin-left: auto;
  margin-right: auto;
  list-style-type: none;
  padding-left: 0;
}

li {
  display: grid;
}
li span {
  grid-column: 1/2;
  grid-row: 1/2;
  display: flex;
  justify-content: center;
  align-items: center;
  margin: 20px;
  font-size: clamp(12px, 2vw, 30px);
  background: #333;
  color: #fff;
  opacity: 0;
  transition: opacity 1s;
}
li::before {
  content: "";
  grid-column: 1/2;
  grid-row: 1/2;
  padding-top: 100%;
  background: url(https://picsum.photos/300/300) no-repeat center / cover;
}

li:hover span {
  opacity: 0.8;
}