diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c0ac369..26817c3 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -60,6 +60,26 @@ FB.api('4', { fields: ['id', 'name'] }, function (res) {
 });
 ```
 
+__Expecting a non-JSON response__
+
+```js
+var FB = require('fb');
+
+/* By default, the library expects a JSON response and will try to parse
+*  it before it is returned to you. An error is returned if this cannot be performed.
+*  A contentType option (which defaults to 'application/json') can be provided
+*  through the fourth parameter to prevent this. For example, set contentType
+*  to 'image/jpeg', ['image/jpeg', 'image/gif'] or just 'any'.
+*/
+FB.api('4/picture', { redirect: 1 }, { contentType: 'any' }, function (res) {
+  if(!res || res.error) {
+    console.log(!res ? 'error occurred' : res.error);
+    return;
+  }
+  console.log('Picture fetched. "Res" can be written in a file on disk.');
+});
+```
+
 ### Post
 
 ```js
diff --git a/fb.js b/fb.js
index 39d2e39..390fbc0 100644
--- a/fb.js
+++ b/fb.js
@@ -99,7 +99,8 @@
          * @access public
          * @param path {String} the url path
          * @param method {String} the http method (default: `"GET"`)
-         * @param params {Object} the parameters for the query
+         * @param params {Object} the query parameters sent to Facebook
+         * @param reqOptions {Object} options for the handling of the request
          * @param cb {Function} the callback function to handle the response
          */
         api = function() {
@@ -140,12 +141,14 @@
          *
          * Make a api call to Graph server.
          *
-         * Except the path, all arguments to this function are optiona. So any of
-         * these are valid:
+         * Except the path, all arguments to this function are optional.
+         * Only if reqOptions is defined, then params must be provided (an object or null)
+         * So any of these are valid:
          *
          *  FB.api('/me') // throw away the response
          *  FB.api('/me', function(r) { console.log(r) })
          *  FB.api('/me', { fields: 'email' }); // throw away response
+         *  FB.api('/123456789/picture', null, { content-type: 'image/jpg' });
          *  FB.api('/me', { fields: 'email' }, function(r) { console.log(r) });
          *  FB.api('/123456789', 'delete', function(r) { console.log(r) } );
          *  FB.api(
@@ -162,6 +165,7 @@
                 , next = args.shift()
                 , method
                 , params
+                , reqOptions
                 , cb;
 
             while(next) {
@@ -170,8 +174,10 @@
                     method = next.toLowerCase();
                 } else if(type === 'function' && !cb) {
                     cb = next;
-                } else if(type === 'object' && !params) {
+                } else if(type === 'object' && typeof params == 'undefined') {
                     params = next;
+                } else if(type === 'object' && !reqOptions) {
+                    reqOptions = next;
                 } else {
                     log('Invalid argument passed to FB.api(): ' + next);
                     return;
@@ -181,6 +187,16 @@
 
             method = method || 'get';
             params = params || {};
+            
+            var defaultOptions = {
+                contentType: 'application/json'
+            };
+            reqOptions = reqOptions || {};
+            for(key in defaultOptions){
+                if(typeof reqOptions[key] == 'undefined'){
+                    reqOptions[key] = defaultOptions[key];
+                }
+            }
 
             // remove prefix slash if one is given, as it's already in the base url
             if(path[0] === '/') {
@@ -192,7 +208,7 @@
                 return;
             }
 
-            oauthRequest('graph', path, method, params, cb);
+            oauthRequest('graph', path, method, params, reqOptions, cb);
         };
 
         /**
@@ -219,9 +235,10 @@
          * @param path {String}     the request path
          * @param method {String}   the http method
          * @param params {Object}   the parameters for the query
+         * @param reqOptions {Object}   the options for the query
          * @param cb {Function}     the callback function to handle the response
          */
-        oauthRequest = function(domain, path, method, params, cb) {
+        oauthRequest = function(domain, path, method, params, reqOptions, cb) {
             var   uri
                 , body
                 , key
@@ -279,6 +296,7 @@
 
             requestOptions = {
                   method: method
+                , encoding: 'binary'
                 , uri: uri
                 , body: body
             };
@@ -301,19 +319,42 @@
                     response.headers && /.*text\/plain.*/.test(response.headers['content-type'])) {
                     cb(parseOAuthApiResponse(body));
                 } else {
-                    var json;
-                    try {
-                        json = JSON.parse(body);
-                    } catch (ex) {
-                      // sometimes FB is has API errors that return HTML and a message
-                      // of "Sorry, something went wrong". These are infrequent and unpredictable but
-                      // let's not let them blow up our application.
-                      json =  { error: {
-                          code: 'JSONPARSE',
-                          Error: ex
-                      }};
+                    var ret;
+                    // special treatment for (expected) json responses : decode them
+                    if(reqOptions.contentType == 'application/json'){
+                        try {
+                            ret = JSON.parse(body);
+                        } catch (ex) {
+                          // sometimes FB is has API errors that return HTML and a message
+                          // of "Sorry, something went wrong". These are infrequent and unpredictable but
+                          // let's not let them blow up our application.
+                          ret =  { error: {
+                              code: 'JSONPARSE',
+                              Error: ex
+                          }};
+                        }
+                    }
+                    else {
+                        // check that the content is of expected type(s)
+                        if(        reqOptions.contentType == 'any'
+                            ||    (    response.headers
+                                &&    (
+                                        (typeof reqOptions.contentType == 'string' && reqOptions.contentType == response.headers['content-type'])
+                                    ||    (Array.isArray(reqOptions.contentType) && reqOptions.contentType.indexOf(response.headers['content-type']) !== -1)
+                                )
+                            )
+                        ){
+                            ret = body;
+                        }
+                        else {
+                            ret =  { error: {
+                                code: 'UNEXPECTED_CONTENT-TYPE',
+                                expected: reqOptions.contentType,
+                                received: response.headers['content-type']
+                            }};
+                        }
                     }
-                    cb(json);
+                    cb(ret);
                 }
             });
         };
@@ -605,7 +646,7 @@
                 if(options('proxy')) {
                     requestOptions['proxy'] = options('proxy');
                 }
-			
+            
                 request(
                     requestOptions
                     , function(error, response, body) {