This allows you to just get the image data and set to the img src, which is cool.
var oReq = new XMLHttpRequest();
oReq.open("post", '/somelocation/getmypic', true );
oReq.responseType = "blob";
oReq.onload = function ( oEvent )
{
var blob = oReq.response;
var imgSrc = URL.createObjectURL( blob );
var $img = $( '<img/>', {
"alt": "test image",
"src": imgSrc
} ).appendTo( $( '#bb_theImageContainer' ) );
window.URL.revokeObjectURL( imgSrc );
};
oReq.send( null );
The basic idea is that the data is returned untampered with, it is placed in a blob and then a url is created to that object in memory. See here and here. Note supported browsers.