How Different People Live In Identical Flats In The Same Building

Ever wonder what the apartments above and below you look like?

When Romanian photographer Bogdan Girboven was helping his neighbour fix her door in the apartment below him, he noticed her home had the exact same layout as his own, yet it looked and felt completely different.

Girboven was inspired to document the ways in which people express themselves through their home, by taking portraits of homeowners in his apartment block in Bucharest. Each photo is taken from the same angle, showing the same apartment layout, but with a very different appearance.

"The idea came from the passion of the anthropology of space combined with some experiments about self-portraits," Girboven tells BuzzFeed. The results show the range of different tastes in interior decoration, reflecting the personality and background of the homeowners.

Floor 10, Apartment 52, Bogdan Girboven

Bogdan Gîrbovan

Floor 9, Apartment 47, Mrs Bita

Bogdan Gîrbovan

Mrs Bita is retired and has lived in her apartment since 1967. She has lived by herself since 1996.

Floor 8, Apartment 42, Mr and Mrs Ene

Bogdan Gîrbovan

Mr and Mrs Ene are retired and have lived in their apartment since 1967. Mr Ene has been bedridden for several years.

Floor 7, Apartment 37, Ionut

Bogdan Gîrbovan

Ionut lives by himself.

Floor 6, Apartment 32, anonymous

Bogdan Gîrbovan

The tenant is a public figure who asked not to be named.

Floor 5, Apartment 27, Mrs Suhariuc Ioana

Bogdan Gîrbovan

Mrs Suhariuc Ioana is retired and has lived in her apartment since 1967 – on her own since 1982. Her cat joined her in 1989.

Floor 4, Apartment 22, Don Lukas

Bogdan Gîrbovan

Don Lukas is an alias that the homeowner preferred to give. He has recently returned from Spain and lives in the apartment with his girlfriend.

Floor 3, Apartment 17

Bogdan Gîrbovan

Apartment 17 is for sale and the owners live abroad. The president of the apartment block, Cojanu Ilie, is pictured. Ilie agreed to be photographed under one condition: "I will not look into the camera… you know, I’m the president of the apartment block, after all.”

Floor 2, Apartment 12, anonymous

Bogdan Gîrbovan

A mother and daughter, who asked not to be named, live in apartment 12. The daughter is a former athlete who has travelled widely. She moved in with her mother after her husband passed away.

Floor 1, Apartment 7, anonymous

Bogdan Gîrbovan

The lady living in apartment 7 asked to not be named. She lives by herself and is retired. Until 1989, she worked as a designer of banknotes.