British-born photographer Kate Barry, daughter of the actor and singer Jane Birkin, has died after falling from the window of her fourth-floor Paris flat.

Her body was found around 6.30pm on Wednesday on the pavement outside her home in the 16th arrondissement.

Barry, 46, was Birkin's eldest daughter and was born in London. Her father was the British composer John Barry, best known for his film music including the James Bond theme and Out of Africa. He died in 2011.

Her parents separated shortly after she was born in 1967, and Birkin moved to France where she brought up her daughter with the French singer Serge Gainsbourg, and later the film director Jacques Doillon.

Barry carved out a name for herself as a fashion photographer, but in France remained less famous than her actor half-sisters, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Lou Doillon. Barry once said she preferred to remain behind the scenes.

"At first, I was better known because of my family: my mother, my stepfather, my father, my sisters … now I hope I'm known a bit more for my own work," Barry said.

She was thought to have been alone in the flat, where antidepressants were reportedly found by police, who have launched an inquiry into her death. The door to her flat was locked from the inside.

"The matter is under investigation, but we can confirm the death," a police spokesperson said on Thursday.

Birkin has often spoken about her closeness to her daughters, saying not a week passed when she did not talk to all three.

"My eldest daughter, Kate, looks most like me. She's a photographer. She had a Polaroid camera in her hand from a young age and photographed her sisters all the time," Birkin, 66, said in an interview.

Barry spent many years battling drug and alcohol addiction and in 1994 set up a free centre for addicts in France.

Two years later she began her photography career, which took off with a major exhibition in Japan. Afterwards her images were published in several major publications, including British Vogue and Paris Match.

As well as her mother and half-sisters, she leaves a 26-year-old son, Roman de Kermadec.