Kirby Wright was born in New Plymouth (New Zealand), his parents were Irene and David Wright, and he had only one sibling.
Wright formerly worked as a chief photographer of the Waikato Times and won several national news photography awards. Interestingly, he worked with the late historian Michael King, they worked on recording Māori moko.
After leaving Waikato Times he opened and ran his own photography business with his work being published and featured across the globe. His photographs included a large variety of New Zealand plants, animal species, people, sporting and various events.
He was the husband of Margret Wright, who presented one large box with Māori photographs and slides taken from when he was working for Waikato Times to the University of Waikato Library.