I have those stairs with that carpet.
💯% this is looking down to a mattress at the bottom of the stairs.
Conclusive evidence:
Looking Down
Looking Up

(Sorry I was too lazy to get the low perspective)
Not convinced. It’s a different set of stairs and a different carpet. I have had stairs with a carpet more similar to the OP that did not have a riser. See elsewhere in these comments for a photo of these stairs, now bare. In the distant past, they were carpeted.
I think they’re cheap stairs without the bullnose. Makes it way easier to carpet. By the looks of the trim this is not a fancy apartment. The lack of bullnose contributes to the optical illusion.
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Yes
It is an ai generated image containing indicators of both perspectives to drive engagement
I see no reason whatsoever to suspect this
Look at how it is.
Bottom. Wear marks from foot traffic + if that were the top. those mattresses would tip backwards unless someone was holding them in place.
At the top-left corner of the image we see a support bracket for the hand rail. The orientation of this bracket only seems to make sense if we are at the bottom of the stairs looking up at the mattress. The shadow cast by the mattress also looks like the light is above and slightly closer to the camera.
If we were at the top looking down, that would imply that the hand rail brackets were sideways instead of being vertical, and that the light was mounted on the wall instead of the ceiling. I have seen stranger things in construction but it would still be strange and unlikely.
So people walk on the face of the stairs now? 😁 Look at the wear of the carpet on the stairs.
Old carpet will show wear as people kick / drag against the backs of the steps. This is especially true for cheaper construction where the steps don’t have the typical overhang.
Yes.
technically correct etc ;)
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Bottom.
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The risers on the stairs are not visible.
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The wear on the carpet goes right to the edge. That’s consistent with people stepping on it, not kicking it on the way up.
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If it’s at the top, the mattress doesn’t appear to have any of its weight resting on a step. It could be so wedged in that it’s being held in place, and that it was wedged that way by someone awkwardly pushing at the ends of it in a way that wouldn’t seem to give them enough leverage to do that. But the obvious explanation is more likely, that it’s at the bottom of the stairs.
If it was at the top those would be some big steps you’d have to lift your leg up over
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The metal bar on the top left indicates it’s at the top.
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Bottom, or else it would have to be in the process of falling due to physics.
Thought something was weird here. The contrast and colour is making it difficult. If you turn up shadows it changes the entire feeling, including where the obvious light source is. I wouldn’t expect the dark side of the mattress unless there was a bright light directly above it.
Also the banister/handrail arm wouldn’t be horizontal. Most importantly, congrats, you got me invested.

No, the light could still be above the mattress on the ceiling at the bottom of the stairwell. This proves nothing.
But, the wear on the carpet indicates to me that those are the treads, so this is taken from the top of the stairs looking down. Also, not mentioned elsewhere, there is usually a nose on the treads and the carpet would follow the nose, which can’t be seen from above.
Unless it is floating, it’s at the bottom.
Top, see railing






