Hi Bebe,
Stereotypes can often be a problem for photographers, but they can also be a problem for the viewer too.
Typically when I look at a photograph of a clown I expect to see some kind of visual energy being projected… but not everybody sees clowns the same way. Some people expect to see clowns smiling and laughing, while others expect to see them sad or crying.
Whatever the perception the aim in creating a photograph still remains the same; we should be trying to tell a story, while at the same time capturing emotion.
At a reasonable guess I would say that this clown is trying to engage a look from a young audience member; the problem that I have though, is that the look is almost too passive. As I look at the photograph I keep waiting for something else to happen, and it doesn't and I get disappointed!
Ideally I would be looking for another moment to capture preferably when the clown was being more external with an emotion.
Another thing worth considering is the clown’s eyes, which are black and soulless. Ideally it would be good to see a hint of catch-light in the eyes and one of the simplest ways to achieve this is to use the slightest amount of flash… even from your camera’s built in flash. Without that hint of light, the clown takes on an almost evil persona. Now this gets back to stereotypes; maybe you planned to capture the clown in an evil look but my hunch is this was not the plan.
I'm also concerned by the shadows in the left and right of the picture which aren't contributing anything to the photo.
If I were making this photograph I would be inclined to move away from this shooting position and instead move about to the right where the light is coming from. Then I would be looking to try and capture the clown and the audience faces in the one photograph. By the time you do this you will start telling the story about the situation.
Hopefully you will get a chance to try this similar idea again soon.
Cheers for now,
Anthony.