diff --git a/frontend/apply/src/app/about/page.tsx b/frontend/apply/src/app/about/page.tsx
index eb930a5..3211849 100644
--- a/frontend/apply/src/app/about/page.tsx
+++ b/frontend/apply/src/app/about/page.tsx
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 
 import { useTranslation } from "react-i18next";
 import Image from "next/image";
-import { getImageUrl } from "@/utils/imageUrl";
 
 export default function About() {
   const { t } = useTranslation();
@@ -11,7 +10,7 @@ export default function About() {
       <h1 style={{ marginTop: 48 }}>{t("aboutPage.title")}</h1>
       <p>{t("aboutPage.introText")}</p>
       <Image
-        src={getImageUrl("/städfestival-ht24.jpg")}
+        src="/städfestival-ht24.jpg"
         style={{ margin: "12px 0", width: "100%", height: "auto" }}
         alt="UTN members in front of our union house in winter"
         width={0}
diff --git a/frontend/apply/src/app/utils/imageUrl.ts b/frontend/apply/src/app/utils/imageUrl.ts
index 238c6b3..29b136f 100644
--- a/frontend/apply/src/app/utils/imageUrl.ts
+++ b/frontend/apply/src/app/utils/imageUrl.ts
@@ -1,28 +1,43 @@
 /**
  * The backend returns relative paths like "/media/team_logos/dg.png".
- * Next.js Image Optimization fetches the source server-side, so we must
- * prepend an absolute base URL that the Next.js server can reach.
  *
- * Production       set NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL to a full absolute URL
- *                  (e.g. "https://apply.utn.se/api"), or the
- *                  current origin is used on the client.
- * Docker Compose   defaults to "http://backend:8000"
+ * The URL is used as the `src` of Next.js `<Image>`.  The browser never
+ * loads it directly — it only sees `/_next/image?url=…`.  So the URL
+ * must be reachable from the Next.js **server**.
+ *
+ * Docker dev        → http://backend:8000   (always correct inside Docker)
+ * Production        → window.location.origin (nginx proxies /media/ to Django)
+ *
+ * Set NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL at **build time** to an absolute URL to override
+ * the Docker default (e.g. for local dev: http://localhost:8000/api).
  */
 export function getImageUrl(url: string): string {
   if (url.startsWith("http://") || url.startsWith("https://")) {
     return url;
   }
 
-  const apiUrl = process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL;
+  // Paths that don't start with /media/ are local Next.js files
+  if (!url.startsWith("/media/")) {
+    return url;
+  }
 
-  // 1. Absolute env var – derive backend base from it
+  // Build-time env var override (NEXT_PUBLIC_* are inlined at build time)
+  const apiUrl = process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL;
   if (apiUrl && (apiUrl.startsWith("http://") || apiUrl.startsWith("https://"))) {
     return `${apiUrl.replace(/\/api\/?$/, "")}${url}`;
   }
 
-  // 2. Docker Compose dev – always use the internal Docker hostname.
-  //    next/image fetches images on the server, so the browser never
-  //    needs to resolve "backend".  Both SSR and client must return the
-  //    same URL to avoid a hydration mismatch.
+  // Client-side
+  if (typeof window !== "undefined") {
+    // Docker dev – don't use localhost:3000, the Next.js server needs
+    // to reach the backend container at backend:8000
+    if (window.location.hostname === "localhost") {
+      return `http://backend:8000${url}`;
+    }
+    // Production – nginx proxies /media/ to Django on the same domain
+    return `${window.location.origin}${url}`;
+  }
+
+  // SSR default: Docker Compose (Next.js server reaches backend:8000)
   return `http://backend:8000${url}`;
 }