Aarsman began as a photo-journalist for newspapers such as
Trouw,
de Volkskrant,
Nieuwe Revu and
De Groene Amsterdammer. In 1989 he published
Hollandse Taferelen, landscapes shot from the roof of his camper van while travelling the Netherlands for a year. During that journey he started to write. He followed up with the 1993 photo book
Aarsmans Amsterdam, after which he stopped photographing and concentrated on writing. In 2003 he released
Vrrooom! Vrrooom!, combining car photographs with diary fragments. Aarsman received the Maria Austria Prize in 1993 and the Hendrik de Vries Prize in 2011. From 1996 to 2023 he taught at the
Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten in Amsterdam. he calls himself a
photo-detective. Until 1999 he was also a columnist for
NRC. He has penned several theatre monologues for actors including Tom Jansen, Dirk Roofthooft and Carly Wijs.
Josse De Pauw performed his monologue
Ruis, about photographer
Garry Winogrand. Since 2012 Aarsman has presented his latest discoveries on stage himself. Together with
Erik Kessels, Hans van der Meer and others, Aarsman has edited the magazine
Useful Photography (2001–present). In 2007 he was guest curator for the Stedelijk Museum's Municipal Acquisitions exhibition
“Off the Record”, inviting artists to submit works made from a desire to record something without an explicit artistic goal. Chance and discovery were central themes. In 2012 he guest-curated the photo exhibition
“Thanks to the Bridges” at the Wereldmuseum Amsterdam. The museum asked him to delve into the collection because “he often notices what others overlook, and focuses not only on what is visible but also on what should be there”. At Galerie
Ron Mandos he curated the group show
“Decide for Yourself”, bringing together artists who, like Aarsman, reveal how they investigate the world—an exhibition of indexes, surprising finds and even Sesame Street wisdom. In February 2015 Aarsman was appointed guest curator of UNESCO's World Heritage Podium. He was a recurring guest on the Dutch TV talkshow
De Wereld Draait Door in 2011, offering original analyses of press photos, and returned to television in 2021 the TV show
Beau. ==Publications==