A few months ago, my good friend Emir and I were talking about photography websites when he told me about Pictory, an online photo magazine that features themed showcases.

I’ve been lucky enough to have one of my photos chosen for the latest theme, “Eat at Your Own Risk,” which shows strange foods from around the world.  The photo was one of the first that I took in China–Amanda and I were invited to attend a wedding shortly after arriving, and this fish was one of the dishes.  We later learned that since eating fish eyes is good luck, it’s a sign of affection to pluck one out with your chopsticks and offer it to your significant other.

Not surprisingly, over a quarter of the photos in the showcase are from China.  My students proudly told me on more than one occasion, “We Chinese eat anything with legs that is not a table, and anything with wings that is not a plane.”  This may be an exaggeration, but not by much.

Fish eyes are pretty tame compared to some of the things we ate–scorpions, snake, cocoons, duck heads, donkey, and fox (we were told that it was mutton, but that’s a story for another day).  By far the worst, though–and I’m pretty sure Amanda would agree with this–were sea cucumbers.  If you ever have a chance to eat this “delicacy,” don’t do it.  You won’t like it.  I promise.

Anyway.  I’m very happy to be a part of Pictory, and I’ll be looking forward to seeing what they come up with next.