Dramatic advances in digital technology and comprehensive restructuring of all-media ecosystems have thoroughly reshaped the creation forms, dissemination channels and application scenarios of visual images, pushing university photography teaching into a critical stage of transformation and upgrading. Taking teaching innovation for college photography courses amid digitalization as the research object, this paper combines the intelligent and diversified development trends of today’s imaging industry to thoroughly analyze favorable opportunities and prominent deficiencies existing in photography teaching. It systematically sorts out core drawbacks covering curriculum framework, classroom delivery modes, practical training arrangements and assessment standards. Supported by digital-intelligent technology empowerment and the integration of school education and industrial practice, this paper constructs a complete logical framework for educational reform, and puts forward four innovative improvement strategies: updating core curriculum content, reconstructing classroom teaching modes, building multi-functional practical training platforms, and optimizing multi-dimensional evaluation mechanisms. This study intends to resolve the long-standing disconnect between classroom knowledge and professional practice as well as rigid teaching frameworks within traditional photography education. It aims to build a modern teaching system compatible with the digital creative industry, steadily improve the cultivation quality of visual communication talents in higher education, and provide operable practical references for the innovative progress of photography education in the new era.