Steve McCurry has been a photojournalist for over 30 years. He is the recipient of the Robert Capa Gold Medal, the National Press Photographers Award and four first prize awards in the World Press Photo contest. Photo: Afghanistan. (Photo by Steve McCurry)

The Royal Observatory just announced its Astronomy Photographer Of The Year 2013 winners. Australian photographer Mark Gee was chosen among a thousand amateur and professional photographers around the globe to win the top title. His work is part of an exhibition of the winning photographers, which opened on Sept. 19 at the Royal Observatory Greenwich. The Royal Observatory shared with us the winners and notable mentions of the competition. Their descriptions of the prizewinners can be found below the images.

A woman poses for her husband alongside a giant camera Thursday, November 7, 2013 outside the Historic Green County Courthouse in Monroe, Wis. Chicago photographer Dennis Manarchy created what's being called the world's largest camera. It's 35-feet long and 12-feet tall it's a working replica of a vintage accordion-style camera that produces 16- by 24-foot prints, the equivalent of a two-story building. The giant camera is on display in Monroe through November 17 because a Monroe company manufactured the specially-built trailer. Manarchy plans to tow the camera around the country to shoot photos of indigenous cultures. (Photo by Mark Hoffman)

“They’ve been obsessing me for years. I searched and found them in Benares, on the banks of the river Gange (India). They arrive here to get rid of everything and to wait for death. This existence can last for years, sometimes decades, almost a life. Opposite to mine, well organised and filled as a human life can be, to try in vain to push the limits of its end”. – Denis Rouvre. (Photo by Denis Rouvre)

Denis Rouvre is a portraitist, living and working in France. His photos have been nationally and internationally published. Rouvre’s photo series have been widely exhibited in France and abroad. He has also published several books, and his numerous prizes include World Press Photo award, and a Sony World Photography Award. Photo: Asia Argento. (Photo by Denis Rouvre)

“Potholes” is a series of photographs depicting the concave street cracks and holes as a collection of imaginative tableaux in the city. Captured within the backdrops of New York City, Los Angeles, Toronto and Montreal, the sets explore the urban flaws as a playground creating a multitude of uses out of the potholes. Directly engaging the street and the city, the highly imaginative series transforms the bad into good, creating a tongue-in-cheek collection that is at once contextual and surreal”. (Photo and caption by Davide Luciano)

“Lobsang and 66 fellow monks were imprisoned in 1959. When released 21 years later, he was one of only three survivors. While in prison his best friend, a rinpoche, died in his arms. Tensin was later discovered to be the reincarnation of that friend. Lobsang said there are so many characteristics of his old friend in the young boy”. (Photo and caption by Phil Borges)