Reading Image information

[eluser]Unknown[/eluser]
I couldn't find an answer to this anywhere, so I hope I'm not duplicating.

My question is with image meta information that is presenting to you in Windows, specifically Windows 7. You can edit the meta information under the properties area and that info is displayed at the bottom of the window. I hope what I am trying to say is clear enough.

Is there a way to read that information with CodeIgniter or even just plain PHP?
What I am wanting to do is: read a directory, parse through all the images in that directory, gather the meta information and use said information to dynamically fill in the 'alt', 'title' and other html attributes.

Is this possible?