diff --git a/sloth/annotations/container.py b/sloth/annotations/container.py
index f683088..84daec5 100644
--- a/sloth/annotations/container.py
+++ b/sloth/annotations/container.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import os
 import fnmatch
 from sloth.core.exceptions import ImproperlyConfigured, NotImplementedException
+from sloth.core.utils import import_callable
 try:
     import cPickle as pickle
 except:
@@ -18,7 +19,11 @@ class AnnotationContainerFactory:
             The mapping between file pattern and container class responsible
             for loading/saving.
         """
-        self.containers_ = containers
+        self.containers_ = []
+        for pattern, item in containers:
+            if type(item) == str:
+                item = import_callable(item)
+            self.containers_.append((pattern, item))
 
     def create(self, filename, *args, **kwargs):
         """
@@ -71,7 +76,7 @@ class AnnotationContainer:
         implementation this will try to load the image from a path
         relative to the label files directory.
         """
-        pass
+        return okapy.loadImage(filename)
 
     def loadVideo(self, filename):
         """
diff --git a/sloth/core/utils.py b/sloth/core/utils.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..037a415
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sloth/core/utils.py
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+from sloth.core import exceptions
+import importlib
+
+def import_callable(module_path_name):
+    """
+    Import the callable given by ``module_path_name``.
+    """
+    try:
+        module_path, name = module_path_name.rsplit('.', 1)
+    except ValueError:
+        raise exceptions.ImproperlyConfigured('%s is not a valid module path' % module_path_name)
+    try:
+        mod = importlib.import_module(module_path)
+    except ImportError, e:
+        raise exceptions.ImproperlyConfigured('Error importing module %s: "%s"' % (module_path, e))
+    try:
+        item_callable = getattr(mod, name)
+    except AttributeError:
+        raise exceptions.ImproperlyConfigured('Module "%s" does not define a "%s" callable' % (module_path, name))
+
+    return item_callable
diff --git a/sloth/items/factory.py b/sloth/items/factory.py
index 1bb1249..24ef044 100644
--- a/sloth/items/factory.py
+++ b/sloth/items/factory.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 from sloth.core import exceptions
-import importlib
+from sloth.core.utils import import_callable
 
 class Factory:
     """
@@ -22,25 +22,6 @@ class Factory:
             for _type, item in items.iteritems():
                 self.register(_type, item, replace=True)
 
-    def import_callable(self, module_path_name):
-        """
-        Import the callable given by ``module_path_name``.
-        """
-        try:
-            module_path, name = module_path_name.rsplit('.', 1)
-        except ValueError:
-            raise exceptions.ImproperlyConfigured('%s is not a valid module path' % module_path_name)
-        try:
-            mod = importlib.import_module(module_path)
-        except ImportError, e:
-            raise exceptions.ImproperlyConfigured('Error importing module %s: "%s"' % (module_path, e))
-        try:
-            item_callable = getattr(mod, name)
-        except AttributeError:
-            raise exceptions.ImproperlyConfigured('Module "%s" does not define a "%s" callable' % (module_path, name))
-
-        return item_callable
-
     def register(self, _type, item, replace=False):
         """
         Register a new type-item mapping.
@@ -59,7 +40,7 @@ class Factory:
                              (_type, str(self.items_[_type])))
         else:
             if type(item) == str:
-                item = self.import_callable(item)
+                item = import_callable(item)
             self.items_[_type] = item
 
     def clear(self, _type=None):