This is the staircase at our hotel in Vienna. I don't remember if this is looking up or down, but there must be some clue that tells us.

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This is the staircase at our hotel in Vienna. I don't remember if this is looking up or down, but there must be some clue that tells us.
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It's looking up, the stair steps are on this side of the railing
+1
Yeah, it goes wall, railing, wall, railing until the top.
Plus it does not look like a smooth handrail (which you would see looking down,) but like wood joining.
That it gets increasingly bright the farther you look indicates to me that you are looking up towards the sun.
I used to be able to embiggen the pictures... did that feature go away?
Right-click on image and select "open image in new tab".
LOL. You are looking at the edges of the bottoms of treads and you can see the underside of the railing, noting the discontinuity of attachment on the away (from the lens) side and the continuity of attachment on the near (towards the lens) side. And if you're not a filthy casual architectural fan, the detail of the decorative moldings are clearly visible, which is typically not the case from topside. And while in the far rear the lightness/brightness suggests the sky, it's actually the flat plain that interrupts it -- the bottom of a ceiling -- that is the giveaway that the lightness/brightness is from the sky as opposed to a brilliantly lit floor.
And you can see where the light fixtures aim upward to attach to the ceiling, or bottom of the next level.
Is the decorative element on the railing on the left meant to look like eyes wearing glasses?
Oh, yes! Another clue.
Looks like there's a ceiling sprinkler visible on the left side of what would be the first level up and the grainy outlines of others left and right further away so yes, I'm with team up. Those edges sure do look like the bottom sides of stair treads too, as others have noted.
Of course you are looking up!
You can see the wad of bubble gum stuck under the railing - two floors up right side.......................
It's looking up. The warm light in the foreground is artificial, perhaps even incandescent. The cool blue light at the top is the ceiling (as noted above) lit by cool light from the sky reflecting onto it from other surfaces.
Perhaps the sky would be a good indicator.