AUGUSTA, Ga. () – This happens all the time here: picture taking at the James Brown statue.

“They’ll pull up if they’re from out of town and a lot of your locals. Even though they see it every day, they take the time to take a picture of it,” said Fred Jones.

“Have you ever taken a picture of the statue?”

“Of course! Who hasn’t,” Fred said.

And it’s been going on for years. This month marks the 20th anniversary of the statue, and that’s a lot of pictures; however, the statue is top notch, but the background isn’t.

“Oh no. It should be way, way, better than this. What he did for this town and everywhere else… they need to get this together and straighten this out,” said Joshua Rose.  

It’s abandoned and blighted buildings photo-bombing every statue pic.

“They definitely need to renovate that area especially how spectacular the street is. That is kind of awful. Not a worthy background for him,” said Cynthia Gonzalez

The Brown statue has his back to the buildings, but it looks at the Augusta Common.

There’s grass, trees, and art, so what if the statue was turned around, and the common was the backdrop for all pictures something like this?

“It will be beautiful in the long term to switch it around because he’s all about music and harmony, and that’s what nature is,” said Christy Wood.

Maybe it’s time to turn the Brown around.

“The old disco song: Turn the Beat Around. Well, turn the Brown around.”

“A new motto! Lets got for it,” said Fred.

“Turn the Brown around,” sang Christy.

“Turn the Brown around. All the people got to get together,” sang Joshua

Turn the Brown around so all the pictures have the Common as the background that could be a hit.