diff --git a/scikits/image/io/_plugins/gdal_plugin.ini b/scikits/image/io/_plugins/gdal_plugin.ini
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1eb19d56
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scikits/image/io/_plugins/gdal_plugin.ini
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+[gdal]
+description = Image reading via the GDAL Library (www.gdal.org)
+provides = imread
+
diff --git a/scikits/image/io/_plugins/gdal_plugin.py b/scikits/image/io/_plugins/gdal_plugin.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..acc6db36
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scikits/image/io/_plugins/gdal_plugin.py
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+__all__ = ['imread']
+
+import numpy as np
+
+try:
+    import osgeo.gdal as gdal
+except ImportError:
+    raise ImportError("The GDAL Library could not be found. "
+                      "Please refer to http://www.gdal.org/ "
+                      "for further instructions.")
+
+def imread(fname, dtype=None):
+    """Load an image from file.
+
+    """
+    ds = gdal.Open(fname)
+
+    return ds.ReadAsArray().astype(dtype)
+